Lod the Galley Slave (Lost Civilizations) by Vaughn Heppner Read Free Book Online Page A

the higher animals reasoning power, but it had changed the trees, the ferns, flowers and grasses . They grew perfectly, and the closer the vegetation stood to the isle the healthier they remained.
    The squawk earlier made sense now . An ancient archaeopteryx rode on Old Slow’s right shoulder. The archaeopteryx had a toothed beak and colorful feathers. Its old talons clung tightly to sloth hide. The parrot-feathered archaeopteryx had been the messenger, and now guided Old Slow to the intruders’ camp.
    The King of Great Sloths slowed as his head swiveled . He noticed a gray scar that cut through the field of flowers like a scab. It seemed wrong here, a ribbon of earthen ordinariness in paradise.
    The ancient archaeopteryx, three times Old Slow ’s age, squawked a complaint.
    Old Slow grunted and increased his pace . He shuffled through the flowers, crushed the juices from moist stalks. He panted. The flowery odors in his mouth suffocated him, too rich, too intense when all he wanted was fresh air. His eyes stung by the time he reached the gray scar, a stone road. Ancient builders had fitted cyclopean blocks into the earth as if constructing a wall in the ground. No blade of grass or weed grew between the cracks, so tightly fitted were the blocks and presumably so deep did they go. The road was wide enough for three great sloths shuffling shoulder to shoulder.
    Old Slow stopped and stared at the dirt churned upon the road. Animals never stepped on those stones. He spied footprints in the dust and he spied wheel tracks. The intruders had used the road. That was sacrilege.
    Old Slow bellowed , a hoarse sound. Then he continued to shuffle, picked up speed, tore plants and made dirt fly. He soon crested a rise and shuffled down a gentle decline toward a strange object.
    He saw an obelisk of black gneiss, with golden marks inlaid upon its glassy sides. The obelisk jutted upward half the height of the trees. Bones lay around it, gleaming bones and bleached skulls. Wolves often dragged half-eaten carcasses there, leaving the remains as an offering to the Old Ones. Old Slow considered it a barbaric practice, but on that score, the wolves were immune to argument.
    The golden marks on the obelisk were cruciform, wedge shapes that were a form of two-legs writing. The obelisk had four sides and a pyramidal top. Old Slow used to have no idea what the golden script said. None of the animals had, not even the ancient archaeopteryx.
    One of the celestial offspring had read it, however. Several days ago, he had spoken aloud the ancient words. A crow hiding in a nearby tree had overheard. The crow could mimic two-leg speech and was a master of languages.
    The words read:
    For a distance of one month and twenty-six days, I—Azel—have devastated the districts of Pildash. I spread salt and thorn-bush (to injure the soil). Sons of kings, sisters of kings, members of Pildash’s royal family young and old, prefects, governors, warriors, artisans, as many as there were, inhabitants male and female, big and little, horses, mules, asses, flocks and herds more numerous than a swarm of locusts—I carried them off as booty to Babel. The dust of Tubal, of Heshbon, of Er and of their other cities, I carried it off to Babel .
    A delegation of crows and the ancient archaeopteryx had conferred . What did the words mean? The key was the name “Azel.” That could refer to no other than Azel the Accursed, the long-ago chief of the bene elohim . Azel the Accursed had surely raised the obelisk in his days of glory. The other named places must have been ancient kingdoms destroyed by Azel and his hosts.
    With a dip of his head, Old Slow acknowledged what he considered the Wolf Shrine . The King of Great Sloths knew the old prophecy. When the golden squiggles of the shrine make sense, then the days of deadly battle lie near .
    Old Slow shuffled past the shrine . He must reach the others. He must see the intruder camp. Then he would lead the attack.
    Why did it